Safety mechanism for elevator-shaft doors



A. J. ROSENTRETER.

SAFETY MECHANISM FOR ELEVATOR SHAFT DOORS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 30, 1917.

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Patented Sept. 28, 1920.

3 SHEETS-SHEET l- A. J. ROQENTRETER. SA F ETY MECHANISM FOR ELEVATOR SHAFT DOORS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 30, l9l7.

Patented Sept. 28, 1920.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

I II I Inn 20 J4 32 19 ww d450 A. J. HOSENTRETER. SAFETY MECHANISM FOR ELEVATOR SHAFT DOORS.

. APPLICATION FILED MAR. 30, 1917.

1,353,851. Patented Sept. 28,1920.

. 3 SHEETSSHEET 3- UNITED STATES,

PATENT OFFICE.

ALBERT J. ROSENTRETER, OF BODNTON, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO EDGAR ZABRISKIE, OF MAPLEW OOD, NEW JERSEY, AND FRANK E. HUTCHINS, OF

NEW YORK, 1v. Y.

SAFETY MECHANISM FOR ELEVATOR-SHAFT DOORS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 28, 1920.

Application filed March 30, 1917. Serial No. 158,535.

resident ofBoonton, in the county of Morris and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Safety Mechanisms for Elevator-Shaft Doors, of which the following is specification.

The invention pertains more especially to mechanism in or connected with an elevator shaft for controlling the motive power and operable on the opening of any sliding door at the several floors of the building, when the car comes to rest thereat, to cut off the power from the car, the power being automatically restored when the sliding door is closed or has nearly reached its closed position.

The object I of the invention is to prevent the accidents which arise from elevator cars being started in motion from a floor of a building before the door at such floor has been wholly or substantially closed.

Many accidents have occurred by persons hurrying or attemptingto hurry through a partly closed doorway of an elevator shaft to enter a car after the car has started or is about to start in movement, and such accidents are prevented by my invention which prevents the car from moving until the door has been wholly or substantially closed.

In carrying out my invention I extend a vertical connection, as a single wire rod, the length or height of the elevator shaft and in a straight line, the rod preferably being connected at both ends with coiled springs under tension. plates secured to the framing of the several doors, and above said plates, which are vertically movable, said 'rodhas buttons or shoulders or the like thereon to be repectively engaged by any plate that may be moved upwardly. The plates referred to 7 are vertically movable by the door opening mechanism to .be manually operated by the attendant on a car when the car comes to a stop at a floor of the building, and when the door is opened said mechanism acting on the plate moves the same against a button on the aforesaid rod and causes said rod to move apart connected with a cut-out or switch box in the basement or at the foot of the elevator shaft and thereby ,efietfifi the This rod extends through cutting off of the power from the car. The power is automatically restored to the car when the door is moved to its closed posiiton, the door opening mechanism then moving or permitting the movement of the aforesaid plate and said rod in a downward direction.

The invention will be fully understood from the detailed description hereinafter presented, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure l is a vertical section, partly broken away, through an elevator shaft and showing the shaft-side of the several doors at the floors of the building;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view, partly broken away and on a larger scale, of a portion of the door opening mechanism and the plate operable therefrom for engaging a button on the vertical wire rod and cutting off power from the car when the sliding door is moved to open position, the section being on the dotted line 22 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation, partly broken away and partly in section of the same, the elevation of Fig. 3 being taken from the left hand side of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4t is a vertical section through the circuit control or cut-out box located at the Fig. 5 is an elevation, partly broken away,

on a larger scale, showing one of the sliding doors with the mechanism connected therewith and the mechanism operable therefrom;

Fig. 6 is a corresponding view, partly broken away, illustrating a modified arrangement of door opening mechanism and sliding plate for acting against a button on the wire rod when the door is moved to open position tionary or panel-doors of usual character, 12 the framing for each door, and 13 the several floors of the building.

Each door 10 is equipped with door-opening mechanism pivotally connected with the door and to a stationary bracket or abutment connected with the framing 12, and this mechanism may be of various constructions. In the drawings, (Figs. 1 and I illustrate a door opening mechanism which has proven to be satisfactory in use, and which is disclosed in detail in Letters Pat- I ent N 0. 1,203,413 granted to me on October 31, 1916, in connection, also, with door closing and checking mechanism, and therefore these mechanisms do not require extended description herein. The door-opening mechanism shown comprises toggle levers r14,- 15

' pivotally connected together at 16, to the door at 17 and to a bracket plate 19 by a pin orscrew 20. The door-closing means connected with said levers 14, comprises a door closing spring concealed within a.

tube 21 mounted on the pair of levers 15, as disclosed in the aforesaid Letters-Patent, and the door-checking means comprises a liquid. checking cylinder 22 whose piston rod 23 (F 3). is pivotally-connected by a pin or screw 24 with the outer end portion ofthe pair of levers 15 eccentrically to the pivot of said levers, so that as said levers 15 turn upwardly and downwardly on the pivot 20, during the opening and closing of thedoor, said piston rod may have its customary and required reciprocating movement. The lower end of the cylinder 22 1S pivotally connected with the bracket 19 by a screw 25.

I do not limit my invention tothe specific door opening mechanism shown in Figs. 1

and 5, since other door-opening mechanisms may be substituted therefor, as, for illustra-.

7 tion, the mechanism shown in Figs. 6, 7, 8

and 9, or the mechanism shown in Letters- Patent No. 1,192,000 granted to me July 25,

1916, or the mechanism shown in myappli- Y cation for Letters Patent bearing Serial 'Number 157,391, filed March 26, 1917.

My present invention has, more particularly, to do with means operable onthe openingof a door 10, for automatically cut tingoff the motive power from car whose attendant opened the door after bring-ing his car to rest thereat, and for restoring power to the car on the closing of the door, and these means will now-be specifically described.

In theelevator shaftan'd extending sub- "stantially the full height thereof, 1 secure a vertical connectionfpreferably a single wire. rod, 26, connected to upper andlower coiled springs 27 ,.28, respectively, (Fig. 1)

which are preferably under tension. The rod26 when in use has limited vertical up and-down movement, and said rod passes 32, 33 (Fig. 2), at said screws so as to pro-' vide for the vertical movement of the plates. The plates 31 are also connected with the pairs of levers 15 by the aforesaid screws 24, at which the plates are slotted, as at 34. Above the angle-member 30 of each plate 31', the rod 26 has secured thereon a button or the like 35 by means of a .set screw 36. The buttons 35 serve as shoulders against which the plates 31 may act when they are moved upwardly by the door-opening mech-. anism, to move the rod 26and thereby cut off the power from the car, and said buttons are, preferably, adjustable on the rod 26 with relation to the plates 31 so as to preplates 31 so that the car cannot start in motion until the door has at least reached within a very few inches of its absolutely closed position. i r

The plates 31 respectively receive their upward movement from. the door-opening mechanism whenithe car comes to rest at a floor of the building, and in the construction presented in Figs. 1 to 5 the screw 24 when the toggle levers 14, 15. are moved to open a door 10, acts as a crank-pin to elevate a plate 31 against a button 35 on the rod 26' and thereby. move saidqrod upwardly, stretchingthe' spring 28 and any slack in the rod connection being taken up by the spring 27. There is a plate 31 for each door opening mechanism and a button or shoulder 35 on the rod 26 for each plate, and the action of each plate 31 is entirely independent of the other plates 31. When the rod 7 26 is moved by one plate 31 it merely slides through the other plates 31.

After a plate 31 has been moved upwardly by the door-opening mechanism at a floor.

of the building to impart longitudinal movement to the rod 26 for cutting off the power from the car, and thedoor is thereafter moved toward or to closed position, the

tively lead, and the box is also equipped with abell-crank42 for moving the spring plate'39 from the-plate 38 when the circuit is to be broken. The bell-crank 42 is operable from a rod 43, to which a spring 44' is connected for moving the bell-crank 42 against the plate 39 when said spring is "free to move the rod 43. Upon the box 37 is secured, in a hinged manner, an arm 45, which extends across the upper end'of the rod 43 and through whose free end the wire rod or connection 26 extends. The rod 26 is provided with a shoulder or button 46 directly over the arm 45. hen the rod 26 and button 46 are moved upwardly from any one of the plates 31, the spring 44 will move the rod 43 up against the arm 45 and said rod will this time turn the arm 45 upwardly to follow the button 46 and actuate the bell-crank 42 to move the plate 39 from electrical connection with the plate 38, thereby breaking the circuit. WVhen on the closing of a door 10 which had been opened, the rod 26 is permitted to descend under the tension of the spring 28, the button 46 will force the arm 45 and rod 43 clownwardly in opposition to the stress of the spring 44 and thereby eiiect the withdrawal of the bell-crank 42 from the plate 39, at which time the plate 39 will automatically return into electrical connection with the plate 38 and make the circuit giving power to the car.

The operation of the mechanism shown in Figs. 1 to 5 inclusive will largely'be understood from the foregoing description. On the opening of any door 10, the mechanism operable therefrom will move the rod 26 upwardly to break the circuit and cut oil the power from the car, and when the door is permitted to close or is moved to closed position, said rod 26 is released to regain its normal position and re-make the circuit. Should the buttons 35 on the rod 26 normally be directly against the plates 31, the doors would have to be absolutely closed before the car could start in motion, but when the buttons are adjusted normally slightly above the plates 31, power may be restored to the car before the door is absolutely closed.

In Figs. 6 to 9 inclusive I illustrate a modified form of mechanism for moving the rod 26 upwardly on the opening of the door 10. The doors, rod 26 and buttons 35 thereon are the same in all the views presented. In the construction shown in Figs. 6 to 9 inclusive, the door opening mechanism comprises a normally inclined bar 47 pivotally secured at its lower end by means of a screw or the like 48 to a stationary bracket plate or abutment'49, said bar at its upper end being engaged with a vertically slotted plate 50 secured on the back-stile of the door 10. l v hen the bar 47 is turned upwardly and toward the right, looking at Fig. 6, it will move the door 10 to open position, and thereafter when the bar is released its weight will move the door to closed position. Mounted on the screw 48 and an additional screw 50 is a vertically movable plate 51, which is vertically slotted at said screws, as shown in Fig. 8, and has secured upon its upper laterally bent end a plate 52 through a slot in which (Fig. 9) the rod 26 passes. The plate 52 may be adjustably secured on the plate 51 by means of bolts 53 and slots 54 in accordance with the position of the rod 26, and the slot 55 in the plate 52 is to accommodate variations in the position of the rod 26, as well as to allow freedom for said rod during its vertical movements.

The plate 51 is connected with the bar 47 by a link 56, which serves during the opening of the door to elevate the plates 51, 52 against the button 35 on the rod 26 for breaking the power circuit, and on the closing of the door to lower the plates 51, 52 so that the spring 28 may draw the rod 26 downwardly to permit the re-making of the power circuit.

I provide a series of holes 57 in the plate 51 to receive the lower end of the link 56, and this is to provide for the application of the mechanism to doors varying in width. It a door should be narrower than the door shown, the bar 47 would have to stand at a greater angle, and this would require that the lower end of the link 56 be secured in one of the upper holes 57 if the door should be wider than the door shown the bar 47 will stand at a less angle and the lower end of the link 56 will be secured in one of the lower holes 57 the throw of the link on the plate 51 remaining the same.

The operation of the invention, when employing the modified arrangement shown in Figs. 6 to 9 inclusive will be readily understood without further detailed explanation.

It will be apparent from the foregoing description that I do not limit my invention to details of form or construction otherwise than the appended claims may require, and that such details may be modified in many ways without departure from the spirit of my invention.

lVhat I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters-Patent, is:

1. In elevator-shaft and elevator-shaft sliding-door mechanisms, in combination, a vertical connection extending the height of the shaft tensioning springs secured at the upper and lower ends of the shaft and to which the opposite ends of said connection are secured and which render said connec tion movable vertically on the stretching of one spring and the contraction of the other, a cut-out switch for cutting off the car motive power operable from said connection, shoulders on said connection at the several floors of the building, vertically movable plates on the door-trameoat. said floors disposed to engage said shoulders and move saidconnect'ion, and manually operable door opening levers connected with the doors and having a crank connection with said plates upper and lower ends of the shaft and to which the opposite ends of said connection are secured and which render said connection movable vertically on the stretching of one spring and the contraction oi the other,

a cut-out switch for cutting off the car inotive power operable from said connection, shoulders on said connection at'the several floors of the building, vertically movable plates on-the door-framing at said floors disposed to engage said shoulders andmove said connection, and manually operable door opening toggle levers connected with said doorsand fixed abutments and one of which has a crank connection with said plates and isadapted on'the opening of the door to actuate the plates to engage the shoulders on said connection and move said connection lengthwise to break the circuit at said switch. e V

Signed at New York city, in the county of New York and State of New York this 27th day of March, A. D. 1917.

n ALBERT J. ROSENTRETER.

Witnesses:

ARTHUR MARION, CHAS. C. GILL. 

